Bitter chicory is a dwarf herb with wavy-edged leaves, bitter flavor throughout the plant, white or blue-purple flowers that bloom in August-September, and tiny, ovoid seeds.

The chicory plant is dwarf, about 10-30 centimeters high. The root system is well developed, the main root is long conical, and the lateral roots are numerous. Stem erect, rounded, surface smooth and glabrous, short internodes, leaves densely aggregated. Leaves are ovoid to rhombic, with wavy margins, green on the leaf surface, light green on the back, and glabrous on both surfaces. Petiole short, leaf base sheath enlarged into auricles.

Flowers are white to bluish-purple, tiny, clustered into corymbs with peduncles about as long as the leaves or longer. Bitter chicory blooms in the summer and fall, August-September. Seeds are ovate, with a membranous, yellowish to brownish testa and a finely reticulate surface. One plant of endive can produce 200-500 seeds. The whole plant has a strong bitter flavor, especially the young leaves and inflorescences.

Growth habit of endive

Seeds of endive buried in the soil can germinate in spring, summer and fall, and the process of its climatic period is generally March-April seedling, flowering in June-July, and ripening in July-August, with a fertility period of 120 days. Seedlings sprouted in the fall are generally difficult to green body overwintering. And in the subtropical south of the region, generally all seasons can emerge seedlings, and can be green leaf roll overwintering. In subtropical areas south of the central subtropics, winter can also be flowering and fruiting.

Taking the Zhengzhou area of Henan Province as an example, the overwintering green leaf tufts, generally at the end of February to return to the green, after mid-March to draw stems, after mid-April to conceive buds, flowering in early May, and fruiting and maturity in early May to early June, with a fertility period of 104 days, and a growing period of up to 8-10 months. In the Zhengzhou area of China, overwintered seeds emerge after mid-March and mature in July-August, with a fertility period of about 120 days. Seedlings born in late summer and early fall can also flower and bear fruit in early winter, but the stalks are low and the seeds are difficult to fully mature.